LongsleeVefee

Nearly 7 months after surgery I am down 107 lbs and crossed into the "One"derland!!
Feeling super optimistic about 2018
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Hey all! Update on me. (And thank you all who have been supportive by the way)
I'm doing AWESOME.
My weight is extremely stable. I don't weigh myself if I can avoid it (I find numbers upsetting and triggering and pointless) but my clothes all fit and my measurements are the same. That said it's honestly a non issue because I don't care if I get smaller or bigger or whatever because weight just isn't what defines my happiness anymore.
I've just finished my second round of plastic surgery in Mexico. I had a lower face lift (for a slight turkey neck and early jowling) and a Brazilian butt lift and I had fat added to my hips to give me a more womanly shape. I LOVE the results I am seeing. In my eating disordered days I always wanted a stick straight and boy like model body. I have changed that mindset and am embracing my Latina heritage and embracing what my body is more inclined to look like.
Through the surgery I continued eating intuitively and my recovery has been wayyyy easier this time. I feel it is because I am much healthier and my body is well nourished and strong. I have repaired a lot of the damage dieting did to me.
I'm in a new relationship and he has been super supportive. In my dieting days I would tend to pick abusive assholes. This time I have picked someone who supports my choices and builds me up. It's amazing what a well fed mind can do!! I don't live on the edge any more and I don't keep people around who encourage my self esteem and body image issues.
My eating behavior has not changed. Once in awhile I will loosely tally up my calories (sadly I still have every single item of food calories burned into my brain) and I find I eat around 2000-3000 calories a day. Usually right around the 2500 mark. I don't do this by thinking about it. That just seems to be what my body needs to be satisfied.
What funny is I actually TRIED to put on some weight for my Brazilian butt lift and I FAILED. I don't have much fat in my body, which they needed for the surgery, so I tried to eat more by adding in Breakfast and higher calorie foods for about a month before my surgery. I didn't do anything that felt harmful or excessive- just encouraged myself to always eat breakfast, a lot of avocado, adding cheese and mayo more, that sort of thing. And.... Nothing happened. No weight gain. In fact it felt like I LOST weight.
In my dieting days with a wrecked metabolism I was able to put on 5lbs in 3 days!!! My body is now at its set point and it just won't allow me to change that so easily. God knows what I would have to do to gain weight at this point.
Anyway my butt lift isn't as big as I would have liked it but it still looks great!
A few weeks ago I also went on a cruise with my kids. It made me extremely sad to see all the people on the boat gorging themselves and looking so miserable. I've been on 3 cruises in my life. The first one I was 27 thin and bulimic- I threw up everything I ate on the ship and was super sick. The second one I was 33 and obese. I ate till my stomach was going to pop and was super miserable and depressed. This time I'm 37 and a healthy intuitive eater. I ate whatever I wanted to satisfy my hunger and tried not to worry about the food at all. And I was happy.
Roughly what I eat:
Bagel with avocado for breakfast
(Or something like an omelet with tons of ketchup my favorite food)
Maybe some Thai food or tacos or fried calamari for lunch, or salad and sandwich (usually eat out for lunch)
dinner I eat out a lot too or at home rarely. I like all kinds of restaurants. I don't like too cook, it takes up too much time and I work a lot. I like Italian, Mexican, sushi, salads... whatever. so I get a salad and an entree. Entrees are so crazy huge, I almost always have leftovers.
Big snack at bedtime. Either the rest of my dinner or a burrito or sandwich or something. This is probably my largest meal of the day.
Sometimes dessert. I eat chocolate a lot at like 3 am. I dunno why but my body craves it.
And wine. I love wine. All though I have been cutting back lately because it does make me tired and not sleep as well.
I'm attaching some fun photos for you all and much love and many blessing to you in your journey!!! It's a journey worth taking to get healthy with food. My life is 1000000x better.
      



Trying to get that booty haha!!

Bahahahaa. Cruise photo.
All of these are taken within the last month.

Wanted to update- i weighed myself today out of curiosity. I haven't in months. I have actually lost a few pounds since I really committed to Intuitive Eating full force and since the last time I weighed myself. I weigh exactly what I wish to weigh.
So there ya go! Do what you will but there is a life beyond dieting forever. I am the proof.
Me today. Today I ate a breakfast sandwich, a bite of chocolate croissant, some icee of my kids, a goat cheese chicken salad, a glass of wine, a cheeseburger, 2 Mai thais, and an egg sandwich and a cookie.

αмαzιиg! уσυ ℓσσк gяєαт! αи∂ ѕσ вяανє тσ ѕнαяє.
му нιgнєѕт ωєιgнт 286ℓвѕ αи∂ ι'м 2 мσитнѕ ρσѕт σρ ι'м иσω 214ℓвѕ. ι нανє иσ gσαℓ ωєιgнт ʝυѕт тσ иєνєя ѕєє 200ℓвѕ αgαιи.

Um....can you say big fatty liver?
I did 10 days of liquid diet before surgery and my surgeon said it was big. He WAS able to work though. So I wouldn't even imagine being able to eat a full meal.
Even with "little" procedures not related when they'll use anesthesia they say small meal for dinner and then fast after midnight.

Thanks NixNichi. I registered again. I must have deleted the previous mail sent to spam. waiting for approval again.
Be well,
Felicia

Hi everyone, I was sleeved going on a year ago and am at my desired goal weight 135. Ive lost 75 pounds and am very happy about it. Im a size 8 and am the size I was in high school. Most family and friends give me compliments but some people are starting to tell me now that my face is looking too thin and then they go one to talk about how when they lost weight their faces started to look sickly and sunken in. They have all gained weigh since then.
I don't really feel that this is the case for me-sunken face-,and quite frankly i can be very critical of myself on my own. It actually hurts my feelings because there is nothing I can do about it. Its not like im going to gain weight just to make them happy! Im so grateful that i had the opportunity for this surgery and that it was a success. Normally when people tell me about my face looking small, I say "if that's the only repercussion to this surgery- Ill take it.!" Theres a part of me tho that wants to get angry and lash out and critize them and their looks, but I do not. Im grown and know better, and respect others.
I honestly don't like people who think its ok to criticize others on things they cannot change. those are not my kind of people. However , some of these people Im very close with and are family.
Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do?

Here are my before and after pics.

I was so excited to get the call yesterday that I was approved for my surgery on 10/11! And I was so happy with the whole process. My insurance has always been GHI - CBP for City of NY Employees. Years ago I had looked into getting the surgery, but they didn't cover it at all then. Now they do (for a few years I believe). Anyway, there requirements are BMI of 40 or 35 with a co-morbidity. Also the 6 month thing and psych evaluation. Mine was 40.2 and I had 2 co-morbidites - sleep apnea and osteoarthritis (which not every insurance company accepts, but they do).
Originally my doctors office said they had to schedule surgery in order to submit it to the insurance company with a surgery date. I thought they were nuts. I asked them, what if we schedule surgery and then they deny. They told me not to worry, I had met all the requirements and there was no reason for them to deny it. They just said the only problem with GHI is that they take about 5 weeks to approve so we would schedule for 6 weeks out.
Then, once all of my doctors visits were complete and I had the clearance from the cardio and all the others I got a call from the doctors office scheduling me for 10/11 which was only 4 weeks out. I told them it was too soon because of my insurance company. But they told me, no it wasn't because GHI is now EmblemHealth and although GHI takes a long time, EmblemHealth is much quicker and thats who they were submitting it to. So they submitted last Monday and I got the approval yesterday in only 1 week! Very happy about the whole thing.
I just wish the surgery was sooner now! I just can't wait. It's 3 weeks from today and they time is going very slow but I'm sure it will be here in the blink of any eye.
So that's my insurance story for any of you GHI/Emblem people out there.

You go girl! Congratulations![emoji1490][emoji1487]

Yes I did that ! Thank you God and Dr. Monk! So in love with the new me!

Let me begin by saying that I have been completely open about my entire weight loss journey , including the surgery, with anyone and everyone since I made the decision to do this and began my six month pre-op diet program almost a year ago.
At 5.5 months out, I have now lost 180 pounds. And, trust me, people notice, and it always is a topic of conversation. How could it not be? And you know what, the surgery is probably less than 10% of those conversations. People are more mesmerized at the transformation and the hard work it took to make these changes in my life. Not one single person has said one negative thing about the surgery because, surgery or not, losing 180 pounds is an incredible accomplishment.
Everyone has the right to privacy, and, in this case, the right to tell people or to not tell people, but it has been my experience that the surgery part of the equation is not the most prominent.
Am I a poster boy for WLS? No. But, to these people, am I a poster boy for weight loss and changing my life for the better? Yes, I am. And again, how could I not be? You don't come across people who lose this kind of weight every day.
To each his or her own on this one...

I'm pre-op as well and I haven't wrestled with this at all: I share my belief that losing over 100lbs on my own is not realistic for me. I tell them about the pain in my lower back/knees/feet and how excited I am about being pain-free for the first time in a long time. And then I tell them I thank God I have this option.
This is the same way I've lived my life for 55 years
Once I have the surgery and start losing weight I'll handle the questions the same way.
If the topic turns negative I have the option of not engaging with anyone who is negative about my choice.
And then I'll keep losing weight and frolicking through the tulips with less pain.
The End.
😊😜😁👍🏽 💃🏻